


Clara Oswald, A Forgotten Memory

by ForsakenXI



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Doctor Who Fusion, Autistic Doctor (Doctor Who), Doctor Who Feels, Doctor Who References, Eleventh Doctor Era, F/M, Gen, Interfering TARDIS, Meddling TARDIS, Outer Space, TARDIS Rooms, Team TARDIS, The Doctor on His Own, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 21:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15009500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForsakenXI/pseuds/ForsakenXI
Summary: It's Clara Oswald's Birthday, and The Doctor promised her a big surprise, but he got more than he bargained for: A broken TARDIS, a ship full of murderous drones, a room full of hostages and something's off with The Doctor. Can The Doctor fix his magical blue box and save everyone in time? Let's find out!Please leave a review! Let me know what you think, it'll help!





	1. Chapter 1

“So, where do you plan on taking me?” She asked the man as he worked the steering. She made her way to the control panel and leaned her crossed arms against it.

 

He turned his attention toward her, a soft smile spreading across his usually smug visage, “You’re the birthday girl. I’d think it only fair if you take the reins this time about, don’t you think?” He answered as he pushed a lever forward.

 

“How am I supposed to choose?” She muttered, lifting herself off the panel and making her way to him. “You’re the one with all the planets in that big head of yours.” She jested as she came to a stop at his side.

 

He raised a surprised brow at her, “Oi! Rather cheeky aren’t we?” I’d have you know, my ‘big head’ is average sized, even by human standards.” His hands motioned about the air, emphasizing  particular words for what seemed to be dramatic effect. He had a habit of embracing the theatrical whenever he needed to prove a point.

 

“Could’ve fooled me.” She quipped back, “And of course I’m cheeky, a bit more than usual I’m sure, but it’s my birthday, I’m allowed an extra dose of cheekiness, thank you very much.” She enjoyed their back and forths, their playful banter. The woman turned her gaze to the numerous buttons and levers that peppered the control panel. “Anyway, why is all the pressure on me?” A finger brushed up against one of the flashing buttons. “Isn’t it your job to surprise me?”

 

He reached out and pressed down on a crimson colored knob, next to the button she was toying with. “My job?” He questioned, “Do I look like a professional surpriser? Going about time and space...surprising people?”  There was a moment of silence that wafted about the two.

 

“That’s exactly what you do.” She answered back, still faced. “You literally pop up on a random planet and surprise everyone. Not like we can get a warning you’re coming or anything. Just the Doctor and his blue box, shocking entire civilizations. All so you can invite someone over and wait for the whole, ‘bigger on the inside’ shtick. ” She nonchalantly retorted, before turning her eyes back to him. “Or am I wrong?” she confidently challenged, a smirk only accentuating that fact.

 

He raised a finger at her, in a futile attempt to rebut her, but fell short at how right she was, “Right, well...you’re still too cheeky.” The Doctor childishly said, before going back to the controls. “Alright Clara, one surprise coming right up.” He felt that familiar twinge of excitement building at the base of his spine at the idea of piloting his beast of a machine. His forever enduring companion, his TARDIS. The Doctor moved around the circular control console, hands working at the switches and levers as he went by.

 

It crawled up each vertebrae, that excitement, that curiosity for what’s to come; the unknown of the universe waiting for him. Then he felt the warm of it reach the curve of his neck and fill his throat. “I should apply you know.” The Doctor unconsciously said. “For surpriser.” He clarified.  

 

Clara took in what he said and gave him a questioning look, “Professional surpriser? Is there such a thing?” She pondered to herself for moment.

 

“Of course, did you think I was making things up earlier. Most planets have a surpriser.” He continued to make his way around, twirling his body about to reach a particular device now and again. “Really fun, now that I think about it. Going out and surprising random people. The look on their faces.” The Time Lord stopped briefly to feign a look of surprise.

 

Clara covered her mouth to hide a giggle, “One look at that chin and I’d be making that same face.” She said.

 

“Oi!” He said, quickly reaching for his chin. “It’s a nice chin. Don’t be mean to my chin. It has feelings.” The Doctor let the idea of his chin take the forefront of his mind before shaking it loose and getting back to work. The signature whooshing of his departing time machine filled the room as he pulled a lever back. The TARDIS let out a series of exasperated groans to mark their journey through time and space. “Right then, well then, off we pop.”

 

Clara couldn’t hold her glee and ran toward him again, “Where exactly are we popping off to then?!” She couldn’t tell if this was the biggest smile she ever had, or if it was a close second.

 

The Doctor leaned in and grinned, “Now...can’t ruin the surprise can we.” He answered.

 

Clara felt the urge to know growing. The Doctor was being clever and she wanted to question him again, but decided against it. “No...we can’t.” She said.

 

“Professional surpriser, remember?” He tapped the edge of her nose in admiration. “It’ll be worth it, don’t you worry.”

 

His finger against her nose caused her cheeks to turn a soft shade of red, and it reminded her of why she traveled with him. She noticed something odd, something that she didn’t usually see when looking into the ancient Time Lord’s eyes; A tear etching its way down his cheek. “Doctor…” She said.

 

“Yes?” He asked.  

 

“You’re crying?” She replied.

She wasn’t being clear, “Say again?”

 

“You’re crying.”

  


The Doctor gave her a puzzled look and felt the curve of his cheek, his fingers moistening at the touch. He eyed said fingers a tad longer.

 

“Are you okay?” She said, her eyes unwavering.

  


He paused for a moment and he felt a headache coming on, but just as quickly as it came it vanished. The Doctor looked back at her, “Of course, why do you ask?” He brushed his wet fingers against his purple frock coat. “That was a bit odd now, wasn’t it?” He shot her a wide smile, and a metallic taste appeared on the back of his tongue.  

 

“Yea, a bit odd.” She repeated plainly.  

 

The Doctor didn’t have enough time to react as his body was sent careening against one of the hand rails that lined the room. The TARDIS jerked forward and from side to side and all the while sent its two passengers tossing about the room. The Time Lord took hold of one of the levers for stability and propped himself against the panel. “We’re flying through something nasty!” He yelled over the shower of sparks erupting around them. The ‘whooshing’ the TARDIS was known for, was cutting in and out, failed attempts to dematerialize to another location.

 

“Doctor..! What’s she going through!?” Clara said, as she was sent crashing to the glass floor. The sound of the cloister bells rang against her ear, and a series of ruby tinted lights flashed overhead. “That can’t be good.” She muttered to herself as she stood to her feet.

 

The Doctor pulled a monitor toward him, “What!?” He eyed the monitor closer, “That’s not right, that’s not possible.” He added on.

 

Clara looked at him, “What’s not possible?” She said, frustratingly.

 

The Doctor turned his gaze toward her, “We’re flying through a hurricane.”

 

“A hurricane...is that what you said? Because, we’re in space right. Can’t really have a hurricane in space now can we.” She paused for a moment, “Can we?”

 

He felt a smile spreading across his countenance, “I guess we’re about to find out.” An abrupt laugh involuntarily slipped out at the situation they found themselves in. Then with one last shake of the time machine, he was sent flying into the wall of the room and everything around him went black.

 

*******************

  


“Doctor…Doctor” The words came through muffled, lost in the shut off parts of his mind. “Doctor...wake up!” They came a bit clearer this time around, making more sense, and his body softly shook from side to side. “Doctor!” It was loud and piercing now, and his eyes shot open, his body sitting upright instantly.

 

“Right! Hello!” He replied as he stared at Clara who sat next to him, his brain processing everything around him. The Doctor’s eyes scanned the room and with the exception of the soft ring of the cloister bells and the vibrant red light still flashing above them, everything else was dark, void of power.

  


Her arms wrapped around him in a hug, “Thank God, you’re alright! I was trying to wake you for nearly an hour! ” Clara said desperately, tears welling in her eyes.

 

Surprised by the hug, he gave her one of his own. “Hey, come now. Don’t worry. I’m fine. Just nodded off for a tic.” He pulled back from the hug and cupped the sides of her face with his hands, “It’ll take a lot more than a temper tantrum to get rid of me now, alright?” The Doctor reassured her. “Now, why don’t we find out, what exactly we ran into, eh?” He smirked and made his way to his feet. “So, I said something clever before I decided to take a nap. What was it again?” The Doctor questioned, as he made his way to the control console.

 

She wiped the tears away and had found comfort in the feeling of his hands against her cheeks. It was like nothing to him. He was back at it, questioning and working out the situation, and it gave her the confidence to stand on her own two feet again. She pondered the question for a moment, “Hurricane, you mentioned something about a hurricane.” She said, pointing a finger at him.

 

“Yes! Hurricane! I do enjoy a good hurricane!” He said, attempting to work at the controls, “I went hang gliding in a hurricane once. Did I ever tell you that?” He didn’t give Clara any time to respond, “Not exactly the best idea, but It’s one of the best ways to dry off after spending the day swimming.” He paused for a moment, “If you don’t mind the occasional piece of debris flying past you that is.” He added on, as he continued working. “But what I never heard of before was a hurricane in space.” The Doctor looked up, away from the controls and to Clara. “I do enjoy not knowing things, it keeps me on my toes.” He shot her a gleeful smile and continued typing. “Theoretically, hurricanes in space can exist, given the right conditions.” The Doctor explained.

 

She was enjoying this, the way he rambled on and on when he was working out a problem. He enjoyed being clever, and she knew he enjoyed it more when she was around to see it. “And what conditions are those?” Clara said.

 

“Oh, a bunch of complicated boring things. But when those boring things come together, they can make something that is a tad bit less boring.” He swung a monitor at her as he continued speaking “Let’s say for once, that these conditions presented themselves in perfect alignment. Eh?”

 

Clara grabbed the rotating monitor and let her eyes scan the screen, only to find it black. “Doctor, there’s nothing on here.” Clara said.

 

“Of course not, there’s isn’t any power left in the TARDIS.” The Doctor nonchalantly replied, “Now when you have these perfect conditions together: rotational speed, gravity, density, space debris, and heat.” The Doctor’s hands motioning about as he spoke.

“No power? Doctor, what do you mean there isn’t any power left in the TARDIS?” Clara said, a worried looked began to grow across his face.

 

“What do you think I mean, there isn’t any power left in the TARDIS. I thought it was pretty easy to understand.” The Doctor answered, breaking off from the thought and going back to deducing the situation, “If they were to combine in a particular way, they could, in theory, form a sort of, ‘galactic hurricane’ capable of engulfing entire systems.“ The Doctor finished speaking,  and looked up at Clara’s annoyed face.

 

“Doctor...If we don’t have any power left, how do we plan on getting out of here?” She said sternly.

 

“Oh, right. Yes. We don’t.” He said, his eyes shifting between the console and his companion. “The TARDIS used up all her energy to shield us from the hurricane. She’s shut off everything with the exception of basic life support.” He said.

 

“No, that’s not right. I saw you typing away, working at the controls. You were getting ready to take us home.” Clara said.

 

He gave her an open smile and a nervous laugh came out, “Oh, that. I was just doing that for show to be honest. Thought it’d comfort you to see me working, while I explained the direness of our situation.” The Doctor said.

 

she stood there, dumbfounded, “Well, aren’t you the kindest.” Clara said sarcastically.

 

“Oh, thanks. I was hoping it’d help.” The Doctor replied. He wasn’t exactly known for picking up sarcasm in moments like this.

 

Clara ignored the dead monitor, “Are we at least out of the storm?” She said, eyeing The Doctor for an answer.

 

“If I had to guess...no.” The Doctor said, leaning against the console. “We’re just in the center of it.” He added on.

 

“The center?” Clara questioned

 

“Yes, the center.” The Time Lord said, as he crossed his arms over his chest. “The eye of the storm. Every hurricane has one, even galactic ones. It’s the only reason why everything stopped. But eventually we’re going to pass through it and hit the other side of it.” A subtle twinge of worry crawled along the top of his brow.

 

“Right, that’s not good then.” Clara said, “So we’re stuck in the eye of a giant hurricane in the space with a ship that has no power. Do I have that right?”

 

The Doctor rubbed his forehead in thought, “That’s about right.”

 

“How long will it take before the TARDIS can recharge?” She said.

 

“Depends, given the current state of the ship, the amount of damage she took…” He went quiet briefly, “I’d say about 18 hours.” He resumed.

 

“18 hours, that’s not so bad. How much longer do we have until we hit the other side of the hurricane?”

 

The Doctor went quiet in thought again, “Given the amount of time we were sent shaking around from the initial start to the end, and going off of Jiku’s laws of vacuum dynamics in relation to a spinning object in space, I’d say we have...14 hours before impact.” He looked up at her as the words left him.

 

“14 hours, now that’s bad. And we’re going to get blown across space if we get hit again without a proper working TARDIS?” Clara could feel her pulse beginning to pick up.

 

“That’ll be the least of our concerns, The TARDIS can only keep up basic life support for another 5 hours at the most. She redirected most of the power to keep the shields up to survive the impact.” The hope was fleeting from The Doctor’s voice, something not so easily achieved.

 

Clara made her way to his side, putting a hand on his shoulder, “Come on then.” She said to him

 

He raised a brow at her, “Come on what?”

 

“You know, come up with something clever.” She nervously smiled.

 

“Something clever?” He replied.

 

“Yes, something clever. This is the part of the conversation where you come up with something clever, after telling me how horrible everything is.” That shaky smile still holding.

 

The Doctor looked at her in silence, every passing second feeling like an eternity between the two.  

 

“Don’t do that…” She pleaded.

 

“Do what? I’m not doing anything.” The Doctor said.

“Exactly, you aren’t doing anything.” Her smile finally faded away, “It’s like you’ve given up. You aren’t supposed to be the one to give up.”

 

The Doctor’s brow knotted in irritation, “There’s nothing we can do Clara, It’s your birthday and we’re stranded in the middle of a hurri-” He was abruptly cut off by the sound of knocking; knocking against the sapphire double doors of his TARDIS. He instantly turned his attention toward the ship’s entrance.

 

“Was that a knock?” Clara questioned, as another series of knocks filled the room.

 

“Yes it was.” The Doctor answered. He pushed off the panel and made his way closer to the door.

 

“That can’t happen, we’re in the middle of a storm” Clara followed a few steps behind the Time Lord.

 

“It can’t…” The Doctor trailed off, coming face to face with the door.

 

“Doctor, be careful!” Clara held onto one of the hand rails.

 

“How exciting…” He said through a smile as he slowly pulled the door open. As he did, a wall of ivory light filled the room. The Doctor used an arm to cover his eyes, but there was no point and soon everything went black again.  

  
  


****

 

ERROR: Emotional Circuit Malfunction…

 

ERROR: Emotional Contamination Detected…

 

ERROR: Reality Bleed Detected…

 

****


	2. Chapter 2

There was a weight on his mind, something that dragged behind him and muddled his thinking. The Doctor’s eyes slowly opened. His surroundings came in blurred at first, and with each blink they came into focus. The walls were a slick reflective metal, a light adorned the ceiling at the center of the room. A windowed door marked the only entrance in and out. He was laying on the floor, and at first he struggled to get to his feet, but after a few attempts and with the help of a nearby wall for support he managed to stand. His other hand searched the pockets of his jacket and noticed his sonic wasn’t in any of them. “Seems about right.” He irritatingly let the words slip out. 

 

The Doctor continued to scan the room; it was completely empty, with the exception of a woman and a man sat in a corner eyeing him in curiously. The two were human by the looks of it, though seemingly not connected to one another. At least that’s what he deduced from their spacesuits. The woman’s was blue, and form fitting. Patches of her ship, rank, and crew were sown across it. The patches didn’t match the man’s, whose were completely different. His suit was bulkier, and had an amber tint to its color. 

 

After analyzing their suits, he made mental notes of their physical characteristics. His brain worked like a computer. The thoughts coming like a sheet of facts, sorting the physical traits between the two: 

 

Female: Asian decent, brunette, shoulder length, 5’ 4”, average weight, brown eyes, slight symmetrical abnormality between her ears. A scar running down the left side of her jaw. 

 

Male: Irish decent, blonde hair, cropped, 5’ 10”, average weight. Blue eyes. Left shoulder hangs approximately an inch lower than the right.

 

His mental acuity was returning to him. 

 

The female rose to her feet and made her  way in front of The Doctor. She extended a hand out, “Captain Namera, first class temporal ship, SS Nova, of the United Confederation of Asia, 53rd century.” 

 

The Doctor felt a wave of childlike glee fill him, he staggered for a moment as he excitedly sent out a hand to shake hers, “Oh! A time traveler! What a pleasure to meet you, Captain Namera! Have to say you’re quite a ways away from the 53rd century eh?” The Doctor questioned. 

 

She didn’t expect the sudden change of emotion and had to regain her composure, “Yes, I am. My crew and I were performing test jumps for our new vessel, we were doing modifications and repairs when we were taken.” 

 

  
“Taken?” The Doctor said. 

 

          “Yes, taken” The man in the corner spoke up, standing to his feet. “My crew and I were in the middle of fixing out warp capacitor when we suddenly appeared here.” 

 

The Doctor turned his attention to the man, “And who might you be?” 

 

The man gave The Doctor a stern look before answering, “Captain O’Dwyer, piloting the time jump ship, Pax, space drifting province of Ireland, 42nd century.” 

 

“The Drifting provinces!” The Doctor said, as he felt another rush of glee fill him up, “A byproduct of the global independence wars that last for nearly 2 hundred years.” The Doctor measured his strength and left the support of the wall behind. He made his way to the man in the corner, taking his hand and shaking it a bit forcefully, “What an honor to meet you. O’Dwyer, a direct descendent of Riley O’Dwyer, the woman who finalized Ireland’s global independence and set adrift their province into the far reaches of space.” The Doctor could barely contain himself as his eyes shifted between Dwyer and Namera. 

 

The handshake was lasting a tad longer than needed and Dwyer pulled his hand away. “How do you know so much about me?” Dwyer said. 

 

The Doctor was caught off guard, and rubbed the back of his head in thought. “Oh me...I read. I’m a big reader. Got a whole library in my ship. All I do is read. You can say I’m a big history buff.” 

 

“So you have a ship?” Namera chimed in. 

 

The Time Lord turned his attention to the woman, “Yes, as a matter of fact. A time ship.” He caught himself, “remind me to never use ‘time ship’ again. Don’t like the sound of it.” He eyed the two again, “Right, how impolite.” He took a step back and a smug look came across his visage, “I’m The Doctor, pilot of the TARDIS, from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. And I’m a Time Lord.” 

 

There was silence between the two humans after the introduction. “What’s a TARDIS?” They both asked. 

 

The Doctor promptly slouched at the question, his fire being drenched by their lack of enthusiasm. “Guess it only works once.” He rolled his eyes before answering, “Time and Relative Dimension in Space, T-A-R-D-I-S” He spelled out the acronym. 

 

“So you’re a time traveler too then?” Dwyer questioned. 

 

“Yes, if you want to put it in basic terms.” The Doctor replied, grouchy. 

 

“Did they destroy your ship?” Dwyer added on.

 

“Yes, I mean no. I mean sort of.” The Doctor rubbed the back of his head again, “Last thing I remember was someone knocking on my door and I woke up here.” He felt a panic at the realization that Clara wasn’t with him. His eyes darting between the two of them. “Quick, was there another person with me?! A woman, short, round face. Small nose. A bit too cheeky at times?” 

 

The two humans looked at each other in thought. 

 

“Come on now, was she with me while I was unconscious?” He questioned again. 

 

“Yes. There was a woman with you when you first arrived, but they took her before you woke up.” Namera answered, jolted.

 

“Who took her?” The Doctor asked, taking a few strides to lessen the gap between him and Namera. 

 

She grew nervous at the suddenness that was The Doctor, “These things. They aren’t human. There were more of us before. But they come in here and take us once in a while. We don’t know what they do with us.” 

 

The Doctor searched her face intently for answers, through the layer of nervousness that radiated from her, “Who took her…?” 

 

“We don’t know! We aren’t exactly in a position to ask questions now are we?” Dwyer spoke from behind. 

 

The Doctor stared for a few more seconds before he broke away and turned toward Dwyer. 

 

“If you couldn’t tell, we’re prisoners. We eat when they want us to eat and we get taken when they want to take us.” Dwyer continued on, emotion fleeting from his eyes. He slowly sat back down. “There’s no point in worrying about her Doctor. Whatever they did, she’s most likely dead.”

 

The Doctor could only stare at Dwyer, as his thoughts raced. “Right.” The Time Lord clasped his hands together. “I’m not going to wait around to be taken.” The Doctor ran toward the door. 

 

“What are you doing?” Namera said, as she tracked The Doctor.

 

“If they’re taking people then I’m going to give them a whopper of a person.” The Doctor answered, staring through the window of the door. Either side of him stretched a massive metal corridor. “Oi! I’m not your ordinary prisoner mate!” He screamed out toward the empty hall on the other side. “Far from it! I’m the best time traveler you could’ve caught. Time Lord as a matter of fact! Go on then! Scan me to prove I’m not lying. Take a gander at the two ol’ hearts! They’ve been ticking for a long while now! You can’t imagine the things I’ve got stored up here either!” He yelled, as he pointed to his head. The Doctor jumped up and down in a further attempt to garner attention. 

 

The door hissed as it rose open. Everyone in the room went silent and The Doctor took a few steps back, keeping his eye on the open doorway. “Let’s see what you are…” The Time Lord muttered to himself. A few seconds passed and a whirring through empty air could be heard approaching from down the corridor. It suddenly floated into view. “What a beauty.” The Doctor added on taking in what was nearing him. It was an orb, no larger than a basketball. It’s surface was untarnished, metallic and reflective. A small light glowed from the center of the orb’s front curved surface. The reflections of the three captured in the room glistened over the orbs metal coating, until The Doctor was staring at his own reflection. “What are you..?” 

 

“You are not from earth. You will come with me.” A voice came from the machine, robotic in its tone, but smooth and unbroken. 

 

“I wouldn’t dream of anything else.” The Doctor replied, as he straightened his bowtie. 

 

A soft yellow glow began to emit from the center of the floating machine and the Time Lord was surrounded by white light, vanishing from the room. 

 

The light surrounding him dissipated and he found himself in another room. It was empty again, with the exception of transparent container pods that lined the walls. It didn’t take long for more of those machines to appear with him. They floated from pod to pod, as they scanned their contents.

 

The Doctor kept his eye on the machines whizzing past him as he neared one of the pods. As it came into view, he noticed another human inside of it. It was these times where he wished he had his screwdriver.  “Stuck in a form of…temporal stasis.” He said as he placed a hand onto the clear glass. When his hand touched the glass, a display HUD appeared on it; Vitals and basic information on the human inside scrolled across the glass. 

 

He read the information, and leaned in closer at a particular piece that caught his attention. Upon closer inspection, it was a percentage marker, and after analyzing it further, he noticed it counting up. “48%?” He asked himself. “48%?” He repeated, louder, toward the machines flying back and forth. The nearest one flew beside him. 

 

“48% until total extraction.” The automated voice answered.

 

“Extraction? What do you mean extraction? Extraction of what?” The Time Lord continued. 

 

“48% until total extraction of artron energy.” 

  
  
  


“Artron energy?” He turned away from the stasis pod, and to the machine beside him. “Ahhh, makes sense now.” He motioned a hand toward the pod. “The collection of time travelers you have going on here. But still..” He leaned in toward the machine, his voice lowering in volume, “...that begs the question. What do you need artron energy for?” A wave of curiosity washed over him.  

 

“Clearance level, not authorized. Information request denied” The machine statically replied. 

 

“Denied?” The Doctor pulled back and raised his brow at the floating contraption before he turned back to the human frozen in time behind the glass. “Another question then, who’s piloting the ship?” The Doctor said, his eyes still on the pod. 

 

“No pilot available.” Its voice was dull and mechanical as it answered. 

 

“Alright, next, where’s the crew?” He turned his attention back to the robot. “There’s got to be someone in charge of things around here.”  He tapped the round surface of the talking robot with a finger. “Someone taking care of you lot flying around here. I’m sure one of you is due for an oil change.”

 

“Crew unavailable.” It answered.

 

The Doctor pushed his lower lip up in thought, “No pilot, no crew. Looks like you're all in a bit of pickle. Never was a fan of pickles, they’re too green for me. Same reason why I can’t seem to get along with some lizardfolk back on earth, but then again, they have long tongues.” He shook his head of the thought, getting back on track, “Anywho, What happened to them?” 

 

“The vessel was involved in a catastrophic systems failure. Crew was ejected to conserve energy for return temporal jump home.” 

 

“Ejected?! You ejected an entire ships worth of people?!” His stare was stern and unblinking. 

 

“Affirmative. Survival projections were calculated and best possible scenario for return jump did not include organic life forms.” The machine buzzed to him. 

 

“Not apart of your calculations eh?!” He felt that familiar anger rising from the pit of his stomach. “Then what about these people?!” He waved an arm around the room. “If you hadn’t noticed, these are organic life forms you’ve got locked up here. Won’t do you any-” Then it clicked, that moment during his adventures when he understood how the pieces connected. “Temporal jump…” He muttered to himself, “Now it makes sense.” He began to make his way around the room, eyeing each person trapped in stasis. “Your fuel supplies must’ve been damaged as well, which explains all the human batteries you have here. And by the looks of the brand you choose, I’d say your crew was human too.” He continued to walk around the room, eyeing each pod closely, almost searching. “Lets see what I have so far; You take terminal damage to fuel reserves for time jumping. In an attempt to conserve energy, you eject the crew. But then you realize that you’re running a tad low on Artron energy and can’t jump home” He turned back to the machine that followed behind. “How am I doing so far?” 

 

“You are correct.” 

 

“Good.” He kept on around the room. “So you start collecting them, time travelers I mean, and stick them in these pods and drain them of Artron energy to refuel your supplies. Which makes sense, Artron energy is found in the time vortex and is needed to travel through it.” He turned his gaze back to the machine. “You are aware what occurs when you drain a life form of Artron energy? 

 

“We are aware of the consequences and deemed them necessary.” The robot replied icly.

 

“Necessary?!” The Doctor paused for a moment to gather his composure, “Death, human death, necessary?! I can assure you, it's never necessary!” 

 

The robot floated in silence.

 

The Doctor gave a breath of air and went back to walking the walls, “So, after you’ve shriveled them up, and tossed them aside, you’ll be on your merry way back to whatever century you’re from then?” 

 

“Negative.” 

 

“Negative, what do you mean? You’ll have your energy, what’s stopping you?” 

 

“We must acquire a pilot.”

 

“Nonsense, you all share the same programming, which should include a return jump protocol in case of emergencies-” The Doctor cut himself off and stopped walking when he  finally saw it. Saw the face he was searching for. His hand touched the glass, attempting to brush her cheek. “Clara…” He whispered.

 

“Programming has been erased. Jump sequence has been erased.” The machine replied.

 

Silence enveloped the Time Lord, his eyes meeting with her closed ones. He felt a laugh slip out of him. “Humans...a persistent bunch. Even after they’re dead.” He turned toward the machine. “The crew noticed then, had enough time before the ejection to remove the programming back home. Probably to save their timeline from murderous robots.” The Doctor crossed his arms, “And now you’re stuck in an endless loop. Gathering energy, starting the engines, making random jumps, wasting energy, which prompts you to get more people and all the while still never making it back home.” He slowly clapped, “Score one for humanity. Never knowing when to quit.” 

 

“You will pilot us home.” The machine spoke.

 

Another laugh slipped out. “I certainly will not. And what makes you think I can even help?” The Doctor said.

 

A light came to life on top of the machine’s round surface and from it a projection played out before the Time Lord. The projection contained a top down camera view of The Doctor inside of the room with Namera and Dwyer. He was pounding against the door, screaming, “ ‘I’m the best time traveler you could’ve caught. Time Lord as a matter of fact! Go on then! Scan me to prove I’m not lying. Take a gander at the two ol’ hearts! They’ve been ticking for a long while now! You can’t imagine the things I’ve got stored up here either!’ ”.

 

“Oh...that may have been a mistake on my end…” The Doctor said to himself. “Always a talker, I am. Daft too, I wouldn’t believe anything I say.” He added on. 

 

“Scan was initiated and revealed you are indeed a Time Lord. Species known for mastering time travel. You have the knowledge necessary to pilot the ship.” The machine said.

 

“Hasty, I’d say. No room for dinner dates first?” The Doctor sarcastically said. 

 

“My programming does not understand.” 

 

“Of course it doesn’t.” He turned back toward Clara, “I’m not going to pilot your ship. So you can throw away that rubbish idea.” 

 

The floating orb didn’t reply, and the room became silent, with the exception of a constant humming the surrounded The Doctor. The Doctor slowly turned his head around and noticed all the orbs that had been flying back and forth across the room had abruptly stopped. The blue lights that glowed from their centers were facing him and instead of it being a soft shade of sapphire. The glow had turned blood red. “Riiight. Sooo, I think we can work something out eh? I’ve been known to pilot a thing a two in my day.” He nervously smiled at the floating objects. As soon as he finished speaking the orbs all turned back to their duties, zooming around him. Their blue glows returning. 

 

“You will come with us.” The machine demanded.

 

“Oi! Wait a second. I need some tools first.” The Doctor called out. 

“What tools do you require?” 

 

“Well, I had a device on me when you brought me here. I’ll be needing it if you want me to pilot us anywhere.” The Doctor moved his hands in front of him, miming the length of the device, “It’s about this long, has a green knobby looking thing on one end. Makes a fun humming noise when you press the button on the side.” He pressed his thumb against an invisible button in the air as he spoke. 

 

There were a few seconds of nothingness in between the orb and The Doctor, but soon that empty space was taken up by his missing sonic screwdriver materializing into existence. The Doctor’s eyes lit up and he grabbed it instantly.

 

“Oh dear! Did they hurt you?” He spoke to the device in his hands as he pressed the button a few times; the emerald light pulsating with each press and along with it that memorable humming that he enjoyed so much.

 

“You will pilot the ship now.” The orb turned around and began to leave the room. 

 

The Doctor held up a hand toward the machine flying away, “ ‘ello! Hold on. I’m not piloting anything.” The words hadn’t left him for more than a few moments before every machine stopped and turned to face him again, that red glow from them staring at him. The orb that he had been talking to the entire time, slowly flew back to him. 

 

“You agreed to pilot the ship.” The machine reminded.

 

“Yea, but I say a lot of things. I don’t remember half of the things I say honestly.” He eyed the sonic in his left hand. “Not to mention that I lie when necessary.” His eyes shot up to the machine as the last word left him. “But you know all about necessary now, so I don’t have to explain to something as intelligent as yourself.” The Doctor confidently reassured.

 

“You will pilot the ship.”

 

“Funny, when you think about it.” The Doctor continued speaking, ignoring the floating orb. “You all are so clever, incredibly clever.” He flipped the screwdriver in the air and caught it. “But as hard as they try, humans have such a hard time programming subtly into robots. You lot can’t notice the simple things.” The Doctor tossed the device between each hand. “Like when I was fiddling with my trusty sonic the moment I got it.” He brought the screwdriver up to eye level, “See, to the untrained eye, it would look like I was just admiring it, making sure it worked. And I suppose you can say I was.” The Doctor shifted his gaze between the numerous orbs waiting for him to finish. “But what you didn’t notice was the quick scans I did into your subroutine architecture. It wasn’t too in depth, but it was enough.” 

 

The Time Lord could feel the smug smirk pulling away at his lips, “Enough to lock onto your power controller chip frequency.” He flicked the sonic forward and the small clamps encasing the tiny green end of the sonic opened. “And if I adjust the settings a little, and increase the area of effect to say...the size of the room?” The Doctor let his eyes rest on the orb he had been talking to again. “Then I’d say we’d have a room full of shiny soccer balls eh?” With the final word that left him, he pressed his thumb against the side of the device; the humming filled the room and almost instantly the lights on all the floating orbs turned off. The machines crashed to the ground; rolling into scattered directions.  

 

“Phew...I wasn’t sure that was going to work.” The Doctor admitted to himself as he wiped off a bead of sweat that ran down his right temple.  His attention briskly went to Clara, “Next...time to get you out.”


	3. Chapter 3

The humming from his screwdriver could be heard as he pointed it toward the pod that housed Clara. After a few moments of scanning, he brought the sonic to eye level and analyzed the data. “Temporal lock. Keep the body suspended in time in order to remove the Artron energy.” The Doctor spun the device in hand, “Locked in this state, provides easy separation of Artron from DNA.” He finished as he pointed the device back at the pod, “But, if I can reconfigure the time resync, I may be able to break the loop just long enough to cause a system reboot.” He spoke as the green light shined from the screwdriver.

 

The sound of gears grinding came from Clara’s pod, and the glass door rose above the the bulk of the pod. “Bingo.” He furrowed his brow, “Bingo, not a word to use. Mental note taken.” He quickly muttered as Clara’s body began to fall out. “Nice and easy” The Doctor said, as he caught her body. He leaned her weight against his frame and eased her onto the ground. He gave her cheek a few light taps to wake her, “Come on now. Don’t want to sleep your life away.” He joked. It took a few more taps, but he could hear her beginning to stir. She let out a soft groan and rubbed her forehead with the back of her palm. “There we go, rise and shine!” The Doctor added on.

 

Her eyes felt like they were sewn shut, but after a few attempts she managed to open them halfway, “D...Doctor?” She groaned again.

 

“The one and only.” He answered. “

 

“Wh...where am I?” She still couldn’t open her eyes fully and her body felt weighed down, and her mind distant.

 

“You’re on a ship. Not mine. This one’s more…” He looked up at the metal orbs, “...round.” The Doctor’s gaze fell back to his companion.

 

“What happened?” she said, attempting to lean on her elbows, but fell onto her back again with a thud. She regained some of her senses, but not all, “Why am I so weak?”  She asked.

 

“Take it easy now.” The Doctor reminded, catching her as she lost her propping elbow. “You were in a stasis pod, trapping you in a time loop. It’ll take a few minutes to readjust to the time zone, but you’ll body will catch up.”

 

She locked eyes with the Time Lord in a soft stare, “I was in a time loop? What for?” She questioned.

 

“To drain you of energy of course, why else would you be in one?” He questioned back.

 

“Now who’s the cheeky one.” She said, as she sat up, wiping her face with the sleeve of her black cardigan. Her thoughts were easier to grab now, and her body was gaining more strength with each second that dragged along.

 

He tapped the end of her nose and smiled, “Wouldn’t dream of being anything but.” The Doctor calmly stood up and brushed off the sides of his coat.

 

“So, why was I getting sucked dry again?” She reached a hand out to the man.

 

“Oh you know, the usual.” He took hold of it and helped her up. He surveyed the room again, “Robots get rid of crew. Robots get stranded with no power. Robots then proceed to scoop up time travelers and stick them in time pods in order to siphon off their Artron energy, or time energy if you’re tacky. Robots then make the mistake of giving my sonic back to me and now you’re free and the robots are asleep.” The Doctor looked back at Clara, “There you go, you’re all caught up.”

 

“I guess.” she replied. “Still a bit hazy on the robot part though, where are they?” She turned her attention to the room and caught notice of the orb like machines on the floor. “Oh, on the small side don’t you think?”

 

The Doctor went over to the one he had been talking to and picked it up. He tossed it in the air as he walked to her. “You’d be surprised how the small things tend to kill you.” He said, as he stopped in front of her, “I call them the roundy things. Or the mirror roundy things. Or better yet, the metal mirror roundy things.” He pondered for a moment, eyeing the machine closer, “Not exactly sure which name to choose, but I know they’re roundy things. I can’t change my mind on that.” He assured her.

 

“Roundy things, got it.” She took a step closer, leaning in to examine the orb. “What’s it do?” She asked plainly.

 

He pulled out his screwdriver again and scanned the machine. “Basic A.I. drone. A ship this large, requires a lot of crew. So to cut costs, they buy these drones to take their place and maintain the ship. Usually people buy the less murderous ones.” A horizontal edge appeared on the machine, and it circled the entirety of it. “Ahh, there we go.” The Doctor added on as he pulled the top half off and placed it on the floor. A collection of wires and circuitry made up the guts of the robot.

 

The Doctor dug and pushed different components apart to make room to dig deeper. “Where are you..?” He trailed off, continuing to dig through, “Gotcha!” He gave a light tug and, with a little force, yanked out a computer chip.

 

“What’s that, what are you doing?” Clara asked as she eyed the Doctor’s actions.

 

The Doctor placed the robot back onto the ground. He took the chip in one hand and scanned it with the sonic in another. He brought the screwdriver to eye level and read the data. “It’s a memory chip.” He turned the sonic around slightly, “Drones don’t instinctively know their way around a ship. They rely on blueprints programmed into their code to make their way about. What I needed was the map.”

 

“A map to the TARDIS?” She said as she felt a twinge of hope take hold of her words. “Get us off this bloody ship?”

 

“Yes, and no. TARDIS is the end goal. But what I’m looking for is the maintenance console. There should be a few of them scattered along the ship for manual repairs.” The Doctor said, as he finished observing the data.

 

“Why the detour?” She asked.

 

“You aren’t the only one trapped, Clara. This room is filled with them.” He motioned an arm around the room. “I can’t let them continue doing this. If I can gain remote access to one of the consoles, I should be able to hack into the system’s mainframe and shut the ship down.”

 

She turned her gaze to the remaining pods still active. Clara made her way to one and then another. “Doctor, we’ve got to save them. We can’t leave without getting them out.” She said, as she turned to face The Doctor.

 

“That’s the plan, but first…” His words fell away at the sight of one of the machines rolling away, and then another, and another. “...we should leave…” The Doctor said, as he quickly walked to Clara’s side. His hand gripped hers in a tight hold. The machines began to whir and some were beginning to float again.

“I take it you didn’t finish the job, huh?” Clara said.

 

“Thought they’d be out longer.” The Doctor admitted nervously. He led the both of them through the rebooting spheres and towards the exit.

 

“What can they do really, they’re just floating balls.” She said, and as soon as the words left her mouth, a beam of energy pulsed from one of the floating balls and crackled between the two of them. The impact it had on the wall, sent a shower of sparks over them.

 

“Like I said, you’d be surprised!” He yelled, as he ran to the exit, her in hand. He lifted the sonic toward the door and with a long press it rose open. More beams of energy crashed around them. He felt the warmth of the sparks falling over him. “Off we pop!” The Doctor said, rushing through the opening.

 

“Do you remember where we’re going!?” Clara said.

 

The Doctor led them down a corridor and stopped at a ‘T’ intersection. “Umm..umm” He said through ragged breaths. “He pulled the sonic to eye level again. He turned his hand upside down and took a step to the left. “This way…no….wait.” He took a step to the right. “This way.” He took another step to the left and abruptly stopped, “Nope, not that way.”

 

More pulses shot at them from behind, “Doctor! Make a choice! We’ve got go!” Clara said.

 

He held the sonic horizontally, “Ahh! There we go! Definitely this way!” The Doctor ran down the left corridor and Clara promptly followed. They ran for what seemed like an eternity, narrowly escaping the firepower of the pursuing drones at some points, and getting lost at others.

 

“H..how much further?” Clara exasperated

 

The Doctor stopped and looked at his screwdriver again, trying to catch his breath. “It...it should be down this hall.” He said, pointing down a corridor to their right.

 

Clara leaned on her knees, sweat dripped down the curve of her jawline. “Let’s...let’s get on with it then.” She said.

 

The Doctor turned to face her, a smile formed, “Always did enjoy the running.”

 

She returned a smile of her own, “It’s the best part.”

 

The moment was broken by another series of shots crashing behind them. “Break’s over.” Clara said.

 

“Rightio.” The Doctor said, as he ran down the right corridor. It was a short distance before The Doctor came to a stop in front of a door. The door was a twin to the one he found himself behind with Namera and Dwyer. He pulled out the sonic and gave the door a quick scan. It rose open and the two of them ran in, dodging robotic energy shots. He scanned the door while inside and it came to a close. “That should buy us some time.” The Doctor assured Clara.

 

The computer console stood in the center of the room. Its metal was reflective and polished like the rest of the ships decor. The Doctor made his way to the keyboard, his fingers working with purpose as he navigated his way through the operating system. A projection of the console’s digital interface shot out, just in front of the keyboard.

 

Clara stood beside him, looking at the projection as The Doctor moved through layer after layer of encryption. She had some level of understanding when it came to hacking, ever since she broke her way through the Shard’s computer network back home. “What are we looking for?” She asked.

 

“I’m looking for the engine schematics. If I can locate the secondary heating converters, I can disable them. The primary converters won’t be able to sustain that pressure for long. They’ll blow and cause an explosion that should wipe out the ship.” The Doctor answered.

 

“What about everyone else, the people still stuck in stasis?”

 

“The converters should take some time before they explode. While they get there, we’ll get everyone out and be long gone.”  The Doctor continued typing.

 

“How long do we have?”

 

“Oh I’d say...roughly an hour.”

 

“An hour to free everyone, dodge psycho drones, and make it back to the TARDIS?”

 

He stopped typing and met here in a stare,

 

“We’ve had rougher odds,” She said, shooting a smile in his direction.

 

He gave a quick laugh and continued to type. “Oh what’s this…audio logs.” He played the latest entry.

  
  
  
  
  


_“ ‘Mechanics Log - Year 3425_

 

_Ello there. Another entry for the log I guess. Haven’t really found time to do one recently. But the captain says I need to keep them current in order to ‘provide accurate documentation for future trips’._

 

_Systems are still wonky. We went through a bunch of solar storms from the nearby star and technically we’re a wee bit stranded in space. But it shouldn’t be for much longer. All the techs are working day and night and we should have the engine prepped for temporal jump in another day or two. That’s really the most exciting news I’ve had. Not much goes on in space, surprisingly. They offer me 2000 measly credits a month to leave my family for 4 years and I’m the nutter who falls for it._

 

_Anyway, enough with the soap opera.  I found something rather interesting in one of the drones earlier today. Seems they’ve developed a fault in their programming.  A quirk in their Artificial Intelligence. Probably from the storm. Doesn’t seem to be anything serious. I have to make a note to take a closer look and mention it to the captain once we finish repairs on the ship though. She hates when I tell her about these things after the fact._

 

_That pretty much wraps up everything. Until next time.’ “_

  
  


The log came to an end and a tense silence filled the room, The Doctor hesitantly looked at Clara and back to the computer, “That explains the drones.” He muttered, as he continued to work on the console. “Let’s take a peek at boarding records. See all the people they’ve captured so far.” Names, species and dates captured in rows, set in a list, began to scroll down the projected screen.

 

Clara peered at the screen as she stood next to The Doctor. She caught her name at the end of it. “Hey, that’s me, but wait a minute. How did they get my name?” She asked.

 

“It looks like they perform a soft scan of your time stream, nothing too intrusive. It would take too much energy for something like that. But just enough to get basic information.”  The Doctor noticed her name and the row above hers. ‘N/A’ written in place of a name and species. “They got me too, but, I’ve spent some time getting rid of that information. Explains why they don’t have anything in my slot.”

  


Clara scanned the information further. “That doesn’t seem right.” She pointed to the dates captured.

 

The Doctor’s gaze followed her finger. “What’s wrong?”

“The year. Look.” She said, moving her finger from person to person on the list, “The audio log said it was the year 3425. But it says we were captured in 3987. Must be a glitch right?”

 

The Doctor moved through the list, scanning the dates. “It isn’t a glitch Clara…”

 

She felt despair touching her visage, “It has to be. They can’t have been doing this for this long.”

 

It was almost like she wasn’t there, with the way he talked, “They’ve been collecting and killing people for over 600 years. 600 years.” He rubbed his face with his hands in contemplation. “How..how could this be going on for so long…” He trailed off.

 

“We’ve gotta stop it Doctor. We can’t let this keep going.” She demanded.

 

It took him a few seconds of coming to terms with the reality of the situation, the lives lost in this constant loop of trying to get home. He clasped his hands in an effort to regain his composure. “Right then, well then! We’ll be the last two they take.” The Doctor’s hands worked furiously at the keys. The projection changed between schematics of the ship to lines of code scrolling up its projected display.

 

A smile appeared on The Doctor’s face. Joy filling his nerves. He was righting this wrong, and he could save the rest of the people on the ship and stop this from going on any longer.

 

“Doctor…” Clara softly said.

 

“Yes?” He said through determined eyes.

 

“You’re crying?”

 

The words didn’t process completely. “Say again?”

 

“You’re crying.” She repeated.

 

It came clearer that time, and he stopped what he was going. He dabbed his right cheek with a finger and felt it moistening.

 

“Are you okay?” Clara said.

 

She felt distant, lost in another universe and it came again. The headache came with a ferocity that couldn’t compare to the last one. He gripped the sides of his head and fell over the console. He grunted in agony and felt his neurons splitting apart at their roots. His temples were on fire, and the backs of his eyes were tightening and caused his vision to blacken and narrow. It felt like an eternity, but in reality it lasted only a few seconds and the pain vanished. It was as if though nothing occured and his body returned to homeostasis.

 

He was confused, and stood up again. The Doctor turned his attention to Clara who seemed unphased by what had happened. “Of course, why do you ask?” The words came out of him, like he was stuck on autopilot. “That was a bit odd now, wasn’t it?” He shot her a wide smile. That familiar taste of metal appearing on the back of his tongue.

 

“Yea, a bit odd.” She repeated apathetically.

 

It was hard to shake the confusion at what had just happened, but he didn’t have a choice and continued to work at the controls.

 

“Almost got it then?” Clara said, excited, changing her demeanor.

 

“Just a few more lines and…” He gave a final keystroke, “...we’re done.” A warning flashed across the projection screen.

 

   ---WARNING---WARNING---WARNING---

 

      ---OVERHEATING IN PROCESS----  

 

      ----EXPLOSION IMMINENT----

 

“How much time do we have?” Clara asked.

 

“Oh, I’d say an hour.” The Doctor assured, and another warning appeared on the screen.

 

     ------EXPLOSION IMMINENT------

 

   ------------40 MINUTES-----------

 

“Alright, I meant 40 minutes.” He nervously smiled at her.

 

“Doctor, we’ve got 40 minutes! How are we going to get everyone out in 40 minutes?!” She felt panic beginning to swell.

 

He began to work at the controls, “Okay, first things first. A ship like this has a local transmat on board for quick, short range teleports.” The Doctor eyed the projection, “Alright some good news and some bad news. Which one do you want first?”

 

“Bad news.” She said.

 

“Right, so, the ship has redirected most of its power supply to sustaining its energy conversion process. So we’ve got at most...2 jumps across the ship.” He said, continuing to type.

 

“Doesn’t sound so bad. One jump to get to the pods, and another to jump to the TARDIS.”

 

“That would be the plan, but there are two others that were trapped with my in the prison cell. So we would have to use one jump to get them here, and another to jump us all to the stasis room.”  He paused and looked at her. “We can free everyone, but we’d have to hike the rest of the way to the TARDIS. Amongst drones keen on killing us.” His eyes searched hers for a reaction.

 

She stood there in thought, a smirk pulling at her lips, “any other way sounds boring now. Doesn’t it?”

 

He mirrored her smirk and went back to typing.

 

“So what’s the good news?” She asked.

 

“Hmm? What do you mean?” The Doctor questioned back.

 

“The good news, you said there was good news.”

 

“Oh did I? Nope, not a shred of good news.”

 

“Then why did you say there was?”

 

“Thought it would make you feel better. Can’t say the bad news and good news speech without the ‘I’ve got good news’ part too.”

 

She stood there a little dumbfounded, “You’re unbelievable.”

  


“Pop and a kick and…” He gave this keystroke more pep, and a white light showered the room they were in. It vanished and in its place stood two figures; one male and one female. The Doctor went up to the both of them and embraced them in a hug. “Dwyer! Namera! What a sight for sore eyes!”

 

“Doctor?” Namera said.

 

“The one and only.” The Doctor replied back. He pulled away from the hug to get a better look at them. “Not a scratch on you, and all the parts in the right place, and they say short range teleporters are junk.” He added on, glancing over at Clara.

 

“Doctor, where are we, and what are you doing?” Dwyer said.

 

The Doctor turned back to Dwyer and Namera and leaned in towards them, “We’re escaping. Thought you two would want in.” He said, a wide grin on his face.

 

Dwyer and Namera looked to each other and back to The Doctor, “What do you need us to do?”

 

The Doctor stood upright again and raised a brow at them. “How do you feel about running?” He asked and gave the keyboard another tap. Light once again filled the room. “Geronimo!” Was the last thing that could be heard from the room before they disappeared into the air.    

  


****

ERROR: Memory Sync Malfunction…

 

ERROR: Neural Mapping Anomaly Detected...

 

ERROR: Emotional Circuit Malfunction…

 

ERROR: Emotional Contamination Detected…

 

ERROR: Reality Bleed Detected…

 

****


	4. Chapter 4

The figures were transparent at first, but soon became solid as they appeared in the stasis room. The Doctor looked at the rest of his entourage. Namera was coughing, and Dwyer grabbed his stomach as if about to vomit. Clara cupped her head in an attempt to regain her balance. “Should’ve mentioned that it can be a bumpy ride when low on power.” The Doctor mentioned as he removed the sonic screwdriver from his inner jacket pocket. 

“Would’ve been something nice to mention.” Dwyer struggled to say as he held back his insides. 

“Have to agree with him there.” Namera coughed. 

Clara shook her head quickly and looked up at The Doctor, “Tip top. No time to waste.” she said. 

The Doctor smiled and let his eyes fall on the screwdriver. “Just a few adjustments to the code I used to open your pod. And if I extend the bubble to the room, I should be able to open all of them at once.” He explained. The Doctor lifted the sonic into the air and pressed against its side. The humming filled the room and almost in a choreographed stunt, all the glass doors that closed off the stasis pods rose up.

The four of them made their way to separate pods, helping as many as they could to regain their senses. In total there were 15 pods that lined the room, and each one of them needed help. “Doctor, how much time do we have before the drones find out what we’re doing?” Clara asked. 

“Not entirely sure. We don’t have much longer. By now, they would’ve received alerts on the pods being disabled.” The Doctor replied as he checked a survivor’s pupils. 

“How are we going to get off of the ship?” Namera said. 

“Don’t know how you’re going to fit all of us inside your...what do you call it? TURDIS?” Dwyer chimed in. 

Clara let out a laugh as she helped a woman to her feet. 

“It’s a TARDIS.” The Doctor corrected. “And don’t worry, it’s bigger on the inside.” He assured. 

“Bigger on the inside? That doesn’t make any sense.” Namera said, checking a man’s pulse. 

“The best things usually don’t.” Clara replied.

The four of them continued moving from survivor to survivor until they were all able to stand. It was a diverse group; each one from a different time period and wearing a different set of spacewear that represented their rank, name and planet in some fashion. 

The Doctor made his way to the exit of the room and turned to the group, “Alright then! So, I’m sure you’re all confused and disoriented. But here’s the quick notes. You’re stuck on a ship that’s using you lot to power it. I got you out, no need to thank me.” The Doctor smugly said, “But that’s besides the point. This ship is being run by murderous drones that shoot laser beams.” He mocked beams shooting out of his own head. “and are set on putting you back in those pods.” He pointed to one nearby. “But good news, I have a ship that can get us out of here. Bad news is that we have to run there before the killer drones catch us.” He clasped his hands together, “And there may or may not be the problem of the TARDIS being fully powered.” He quickly added on. 

As soon as the final words left him, the crowd began murmuring to each other in a panic. The Doctor looked around and fell silent. 

“Oi! Shut up!” Clara yelled, making her way to The Doctor’s side. “You all should be thanking him.” 

“I thought so too.” The Doctor chimed in. 

“You shut up too.” Clara said to him. 

He nervously looked the other way and fell silent again

“Because of this man, you’re all free. He’s saved my life plenty of times and I won’t start doubting him now. So instead of complaining. Why don’t you all just listen to him so we can get out of this.” Clara finished, eyeing the crowd. It seemed to have worked as they quieted down. “They’re all yours Doctor.” She said, looking at him. 

“So the TARDIS is the next stop. I’ve got the map here and the sonic should be able to home in on her signal.” He eyed the sonic again, “Which seems to be the cargo bay.” He raised a brow, “Should’ve guessed.” He looked back up at the crowd, “Follow me and stay close.” The Doctor said, before turning to see Namera and Dwyer. “You two stay in the back, Clara and I will lead the front.” The two nodded back at him. “Off we go!.” He turned on the balls of his heels. The sound of whirring came in the distance. “Wonderful timing.” He muttered and the group was off. 

The Doctor and Clara led the group down corridor after corridor. The stamping of footfalls battled against the whirring from the drones that followed close by. Occasionally they came into firing range and sent off a few shots in their direction. Sparks flew around them as they continued to run. “They’re right behind us!” Dwyer shouted to Namera. 

Namera glanced over her shoulder and saw a pair of them turning the corner they had just come from seconds before. “We’ve go to do something! They’re going to catch us if we don’t!” Namera shouted back. 

The two of them turned a corner with the group, as they ducked another round of shots. “I’ve got an idea!” Dwyer said through rapid breathing. 

“What’s that?!” Namera raggedly replied. 

“I’ll distract them.” Dwyer said. 

“How, we don’t have anything.” Namera said. 

Dwyer didn’t reply promptly. His lungs were working ferociously. He could feel them pressing up against his rib cage with every inhalation. “I’ve got me.” He finally said. 

Namera gave him a puzzled look. “Dwyer, you can’t. We can’t be too far now.” She ducked away from a sprinkler of sparks. 

The energy from his body was being sucked away from him, every time he moved his legs, he could feel the fire encircling him closer. “I can’t. I’m not going to make it. Let me do this. Let me be useful.” Dwyer pleaded. 

Namera shifted her gaze between Dwyer and the group, trying to keep pace, and that’s when she noticed he was right. He had been losing a step with every corner they passed. She didn’t say anything, she couldn’t find the words. What do you tell a man who wants to die for you that it’s okay to do so? All she could do was nod in his direction. 

“See you around...” Dwyer struggled to say, finally stopping completely. The air going into his lungs felt like finding water in a desert. The machines stopped in front of him, red lights like fiery eyes staring at him. “Go on then. No use in drawing it out any longer.” 

 

His screams filled the corridor and Namera squeezed her eyes shut at the sound. Clara looked over her shoulder at the sound, but couldn’t see through the sea of people behind her. “Doctor, how much time do we have left?” Clara asked. 

“The sonic says we’ve got about 25 minutes left before this whole place blows up. But this should be the last corner” The Doctor said, seeing the corner coming into view. The random pot shots had stopped, and he wondered why. He turned the corner and right in front of him was another locked door. The people behind stopped, one after another, clustering together; sweat poured down their faces.He pointed the sonic to the door and after a few seconds of humming the door rose open. 

The cargo bay contained a variety of machines and devices. The Doctor ran inside and eyed the numerous objects, “A dumping ground for the missing time traveler.” He said to himself. Each object he came across was from another time period, another world. Surely this is where the drones stored all the carry ons their prisoners brought along with them after ‘extraction’. 

They all entered the bay, some recognizing objects that were taken away from them, and others simply taking extra souvenirs. That’s when his eyes came across it. That magical blue box he held close to his heart. “There you are!” The Doctor yelled out as he ran to the sapphire double doors. “Oh how I’ve missed you.” He hugged the machine. 

“Want to be alone?” Clara jested as she crossed her arms. 

He ignored Clara, taking a step back, “Don’t listen to her, you beauty. They better not have hurt you!” The Doctor demanded as he pulled out his TARDIS key from his pants pocket. He slipped it into the lock and pushed the door open, disappearing into the time machine. 

“Hey! Wait for me!” Clara followed in. 

The rest of the group looked at the machine in bewilderment. “How are we supposed to fit in there!?” One of the people yelled. “He’s a liar! We’re going to die here!” shouted another. 

The Doctor popped his head out, “Oi! Shut it and come in here already!” He withdrew his head back into the darkness of his ship. 

They looked at each other in confusion, and Namera pushed to the front. She eyed the machine and peered inside. “Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” She laughed, making her way completely inside.

“I know right.” Clara said to her. 

“Wait for it…” The Doctor said to Clara. 

Namera turned her body around to take the size of the control room. “Thi-this isn’t possible.” She said. 

The Doctor looked away from the control panel and smiled at Clara. “Oh, it’s quite possible. Just complicated. Well not too complicated. Mildly complicated. A little complicated with a dash of improbable. I would say.” He rambled. 

Namera looked at The Doctor, “It’s bigger on the inside.” She stood in front of the control console, “It’s amazing.”

The Doctor patted the top of the panel, “She really is.” One by one, each person entered the machine, and one by one their reactions mirrored Namera’s. When the last person walked in, Clara scanned the heads and found one missing. “Namera...where’s Dwyer?” She asked. 

The Doctor looked at Namera and she turned her gaze down, forcing down a swallow. “He...He didn’t make it. He stayed behind to buy us some time.” Even through all the chattering of the group, the world fell silent between the three of them. The Doctor nervously shifted his gaze between the two of them and the controls. “Well...Let’s not make his sacrifice mean nothing.” He pushed a lever forward and the TARDIS stirred into life for a brief moment before falling back to sleep.

“What’s wrong? Why isn’t she starting?” Clara questioned. 

He worked at the controls again, “She’s still not fully charged. She needs more time before taking off.” The Doctor replied. His eyes darted between the controls, looking for an answer. 

“What do we need to do Doctor? How do we get her charged?” Namera asked. 

He gripped the controls tightly, his mind sifting through all the information he had gathered up until this point. Then his head shot up. “Artron energy!” He yelled. “How could I be so thick! We’re standing on one of the biggest reserves of it. Artron energy is time fuel. If I can connect the TARDIS’ fuel lines to the ship’s central lines. I can reroute the flow of Artron energy to feed into the central lines and into the TARDIS. Charging her up in a jiffy!” 

The Doctor ran down the glass staircase and began rummaging through the TARDIS’s guts. After a quick while, he came running back up carrying a hose in his hands. “Stay inside, all of you. I’ll take care of this and we’ll be off.” He ran down the ramp and exited the blue box. 

The hose seemed to be never ending as he ran all around the cargo bay. He was running out of time. Soon the drones would be here and they’ll have to be long gone by then. He finally caught it, the service hatch against one of the walls. He soniced it and the screws came undone, the metal cover falling to the floor. With a few points of his screwdriver, he was able to adjust the settings and connect the hose to the wall. “There we go, a few tics and you’ll be as right as rain.” He pondered for a moment, “Or wrong. I never knew rain to be right often. It can be a little pretentious when it wants to be.” He ranted to himself before eyeing the screwdriver. “4 minutes left. Plenty of time.” 

Clara poked her head out of the TARDIS, searching for The Doctor. The lights in the time machine had come to life and whatever he did was working. “Doctor? Doctor?” She exited it completely and followed the hose until he came into view. “There you are!” He walked to him, “It’s working the TARDIS is waking up.” She said, still a bit away. 

The Doctor looked in her direction and shot her a smile he only made for her, but that’s when he saw it; the infamous orb turning the corner and floating into the cargo bay. “Clara!” The Doctor stood up and ran to her. 

Clara stopped as he yelled her name and noticed the orb’s red light pointed at her. “Doctor…” she whispered. 

“Clara! No!” He saw the beam of energy from the corner of his eye make its way to her, and right before it made contact he grabbed her and pushed the two of them out of the way. The two tumbled onto the floor and crashed against a wall. The breath knocking out of them both. They didn’t have time to waste, and The Doctor rose to his feet and took her by the hand, helping her up. 

She wanted to thank him, but he was already running off to the TARDIS, her hand in his. The Doctor pushed open the door and ran into the blue box and shut the door behind him. When they were both inside, he felt her arms wrap around him as he turned back to face her, ”Thank you Doctor. Thank you.” She sniffled, her tears staining his coat. “I thought it was over...the way that thing looked at me.”

“Shhhh, it’s alright. We’ll be out of here before you know it.” He rubbed her back in comfort. He pulled away from the hug and looked at her, “Let’s get out of here.” The Doctor said, as he ran to the control panel. With a few presses, he disconnected the hose attached to the ship and shot it outside. “Running around a ship filled with killer drones and saving a bunch of people?” He laughed to Clara as he turned a wheel and pushed a lever forward. “How’s that for a birthday surprise!” The TARDIS’ deep ‘whooshing’ filled the room and the time rotor in the center slid up and down. The sound of the cloister bells brought a sense of peace to him and he felt his body relaxing. 

“Doctor…” Clara said softly.

The Doctor looked at her quickly, feeling that familiar tone. “Yes?” He asked. 

“You’re crying?” 

“Say again?” He leaned in closer. 

“You’re crying.” She repeated. 

He heard her more clearly and felt a tear down his cheek, his finger moistening as he touched it. 

“Are you okay?” She asked. 

 

The headache this time brought him to his knees. He held his head in both hands as he writhed on the floor. The Doctor could feel every cell burning up, the back of his eyes nearly exploding with electricity as his head beamed with pain with every beat of his hearts. His yells filled the room and yet no one seemed to pay attention. Blood dripped down his nose, and felt the taste of iron on the back of his tongue as it fell into his mouth. His vision narrowed and blackened again, he couldn’t make out anything except Clara standing over him. 

“Are you okay?” She asked again, unemotional. 

He processed the final question and everything went black, as he faded into the land of unconsciousness. 

 

****  
System Shutdown.

Organic Participant Able To Be Removed From System….

Memory Re-allocation Success…

Memory Re-allocation In Process…

ERROR: System Crash…

ERROR: Memory Sync Malfunction…

ERROR: Neural Mapping Anomaly Detected...

ERROR: Emotional Circuit Malfunction…

ERROR: Emotional Contamination Detected…

ERROR: Reality Bleed Detected…

****


	5. Chapter 5

 

It was the cloister bells that caused him to stir, a groan escaping him as he turned his head. The Doctor’s eyes felt glued together, but he forced them apart with a few slow blinks. His surroundings blurred into focus and he found himself on the transparent floor of the TARDIS’ central console room. He leaned on one side and made it to a knee before he noticed the smell of iron filling his nostrils. He stopped and brushed a finger below his nose and broke off the flakes of dry blood stuck to his skin. He must’ve been unconscious for a while, for it to have dried this much.

 

The Doctor placed a hand on the the nearby console and stood upright. “Never works...does it?” He said to himself. He took a gander around the room and saw it completely void of anyone else. “Right as rain…” His eyes scanned the time rotor moving up and down in the center of the room. “Did I mention rain can be wrong?” He questioned the working machine. “Oh...that’s right. I did.” He said, turning his gaze away, perturbed. He stumbled back a step and kicked something by mistake. The Doctor noticed the piece of equipment and went to reach for it. It was a helmet of sorts, with a wire stretching down from it, to the underside of the console. “Right…” He said. “...that explains a lot.” He tossed the helmet to the side and turned back to the central console.

 

The Doctor noticed a monitor with a red light blinking and pulled it in his direction.

 

    ----System Crash----

 

\---Simulation Terminated----

 

The words were bold and crimson as they flashed repeatedly. “Yes, yes, I know.” He grunted, pushing the monitor away. “It isn’t the first time I played around with it.” He stopped abruptly, forcing himself through a series of coughs. “Time Lords...very particular. They’ll give you an indefinite lifespan, but refuse to let you fiddle with your memories.” He thought out loud. “Even the worse ones…” He trailed off.

 

The monitor dinged and The Doctor’s ears perked. “Here we go again…” He struggled, as he grabbed hold of the monitor and pulled it to him again.

 

\----Memory Tamperage Repaired----

 

 ---Accurate Memory Playback---

 

Fear gripped his heart, and he forced down a swallow. The screen went black and a video began to play.

  


_The Doctor looked in her direction and shot her a smile he only made for her, but that’s when he saw it; the infamous orb turning the corner and floating into the cargo bay. “Clara!” The Doctor stood up and ran to her._

 

_Clara stopped as he yelled her name and noticed the orb’s red light pointed at her. “Doctor…” she whispered._

 

_“Clara! No!” He saw the beam of energy from the corner of his eye make its way to her, He was nearly there, when went to reach for her, but the beam of energy struck her in the side just before he grabbed her and the two went tossing about the floor._

 

_The two came to a stop and after shaking off the disorientation, he noticed Clara’s limp body beside him. He instantly made his way to her side, propping her upper half on his lap as he sat beside her. He scanned her body for injuries and saw the circular charred wound on her right side.  He shut his eyes at the sight, and the blood that pooled around the two of them._

 

_“Doctor…” Clara softly said._

 

_Her words were piercing, as he struggled to open his eyes and look at her. “Yes?” He said through a faltering demeanor._

 

_“You’re crying?” She answered._

 

_He couldn’t understand, he didn’t want to understand, “Say again?”_

 

_“You’re crying.” She repeated._

 

_Reality was setting in, and he dabbed his right cheek with a finger and felt it moistening._

 

_“Are you okay?” Clara said._

 

_He looked down at her broken body and felt his lower lip quivering, “Of course, why do you ask?” The Doctor struggled to let the words out. He needed to be strong, he needed to, for her. He cleared his throat and forced a smile, “That was a bit odd, wasn’t it?” He added on._

 

_“Yea, a bit odd.” She breathlessly said. Her pulse was weakening, and he could feel it where his fingers touched her skin._

 

_“You’re going to be okay Clara. We’ll get on the TARDIS and get you right as rain.” There was a level of franticness to his voice that he fought against._

 

_“Oh Doctor, My Doctor.” Her words were barely audible, “Remember...rain can be wrong sometimes.”_

 

_His eyes welled with tears, and some of them dropped onto her cheek, “I can’t...I can’t do this without you. Not anymore.”_

 

_“Of course you can. You’re The Doctor…You’ve already saved me...You have to save everyone else now.” She stared into his eyes._

 

_He cupped the side of her face with his hand, and it stopped it from shaking. The Doctor pressed his lips against her forehead in a kiss and stared at her._

 

_“Run you clever boy...and remember me.” The words left her and as they did, the breath of life went with it. Her eyes closed and her head fell against his hand._

 

_He was sobbing by this point, and he held her up against his body “No..no...no...no...please...no.” The Doctor whispered._

 

 

  
  


The Doctor had seen enough and pushed the monitor away again. His face was stern and rigid, as the tear hit the control panel. He cleared his throat and shook the emotion away from him, before he turned to the double doors and walked out of the time machine.

 

The frigid wind caused the hairs on his neck to stand at attention as he stepped out. The Doctor blocked the rays from the setting sun with his left arm and turned away at an angle to stop them from hitting him so abrasively.

 

He cleared his vision from the bright afterimage the sun left on his retinas and looked around, remembering where he had parked the TARDIS. Stone markers peppered the field he stood in. Their sizes and colors varied, but each of them had one thing in common; a name and date etched onto their hard faces.

 

The Doctor occasionally brushed a hand along the curve of one and eyed another, recognizing the name, until he came to the one he was searching for. “ ‘Ello there…” He greeted the ivory tinted gravestone as his hands nervously balled into half hearted fists in front of his chest. “...I know I’m a little late, but...never been one for getting the landing right.” The emotion pushed up against the mental fortifications he had built, and they were barely keeping his composure.

 

The name on the gravestone revived so many memories, so many adventures, “...I tried again you know. Every year I say I won’t, and every year I end up convincing myself I can.” He said. “Part of the reason I was late actually.” He let his hands point in the direction of his time machine. “Had to give it another go.” He dropped them to his sides as he turned back to the grave. “Funny thing, memories that is. Some I’m able to erase and some, better yet, I can change. But this memory.” The Doctor pointed to the gravestone. “This memory my mind won’t let me change. I’ve tried everything. I even tried reconstructing the entire scenario and changing it from within, but I nearly blew my brain doing it.” He chuckled and motioned a hand in the air, “You’re stuck in there, forever. Part of the personality now. Every regeneration gets a basic set of memories for their personality and now...now you’re in there with them.”

 

The Doctor turned his head away at the memory replaying in his mind, “Your death...changed who I am.” He struggled to admit as he battled the emotion that crept in. “I can never forget it.” A tear fell on the grass at his feet. “And...and it’s burning me up Clara.” The Doctor wiped the saltwater from his eyes. “I’ve lost so much...why did I have to lose you too.” He let the tears fall away, suffering in silence. “I’m sorry...I shouldn’t be so emotional. I can’t think straight when I’m emotional. At least that’s what River says.” He chuckled again.

 

He took a step forward and crouched in front of the gravestone, placing a hand on top of it. “I’ll cherish the memories we made together. Even the bad ones.” He cleared his throat and sent her a smile. “Happy Birthday...my impossible girl.” The Doctor stared at her etched name a second longer before he stood up.

 

The Doctor placed both hands in his jacket pockets and turned away from the grave. He made his way to the TARDIS and stood out front, looking at the blue box. He smiled again and went inside. The wind blew harshly and the familiar exasperated whooshing radiated from the magical machine as it slowly dematerialized.


End file.
